If you’ve watched a YouTube video in the past five years, you’ve been told you desperately need a VPN. According to the ads, hackers are lurking on every public WiFi network, your ISP is selling your browsing history to the highest bidder, and the only thing standing between you and total digital annihilation is a $3.99/month subscription.

Most of this is overblown. Let me explain what VPNs actually do and whether you need one.

What a VPN Actually Does

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) routes your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server operated by the VPN provider. From there, it goes out to the regular internet. This does two things:

1. Hides your IP address from the websites you visit. They see the VPN server’s IP instead of yours.
2. Encrypts your traffic between your device and the VPN server. Your ISP can see that you’re using a VPN, but can’t see what you’re doing.

That’s it. That’s what a VPN does. The marketing makes it sound like a magical security shield, but it’s really just a privacy tool with specific, limited applications.

What a VPN Doesn’t Do

It doesn’t make you anonymous. If you log into Google, Facebook, or any other service while using a VPN, those companies still know exactly who you are. A VPN hides your IP address, not your identity.

It doesn’t protect you from malware. Clicking on a dodgy link with a VPN on is just as dangerous as clicking on it without one. VPNs don’t scan for viruses or block malicious websites (though some have added basic filtering features).

It doesn’t guarantee privacy. You’re shifting trust from your ISP to the VPN provider. If the VPN company logs your activity, you haven’t gained privacy at all. You’ve just changed who can see what you’re doing.

It doesn’t meaningfully speed up your connection. In almost all cases, routing through an extra server makes your connection slower, not faster. Any VPN claiming to speed up your internet is being misleading.

When a VPN Is Actually Useful

Despite the overblown marketing, there are legitimate reasons to use a VPN:

Public WiFi. While modern HTTPS encryption means most of your traffic is already encrypted, a VPN adds an extra layer on unsecured networks. Hotels, cafes, airports. It’s not strictly necessary in 2026, but it’s a reasonable precaution.

Geo-restricted content. This is honestly the main reason most people use VPNs. Watching streaming content that’s not available in your country. It works, though streaming services are getting better at detecting and blocking VPN connections.

Privacy from your ISP. If you don’t want your internet provider logging which websites you visit, a VPN prevents that. Whether this matters to you depends on your threat model and how much you trust your ISP.

Bypassing censorship. In countries with restrictive internet policies, VPNs can be genuinely important tools. This is probably the most morally clear-cut use case.

The “No Logs” Problem

Every VPN worth its subscription claims a “no logs” policy. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can’t verify this. You’re taking the company’s word for it.

Some VPN providers have commissioned independent audits of their infrastructure, which is a good sign but not a guarantee. Others have been caught logging data despite their policies. In 2020, UFO VPN was found to have exposed 20 million user logs including plain-text passwords, despite claiming a no-logs policy.

If privacy from potential legal requests is important to you, look for providers based in jurisdictions without data retention laws, that have been independently audited, and that have a track record of not handing over data when pressed.

Free VPNs: Just Don’t

Free VPN services need to make money somehow. That “somehow” is usually your data. Multiple studies have found free VPNs injecting ads, tracking user behaviour, and selling browsing data. Some have even been caught distributing malware.

If you’re going to use a VPN, pay for it. The cost of a decent VPN service is trivial compared to the privacy risks of a free one.

My Honest Recommendation

For most people in Australia in 2026, a VPN is nice to have but not essential. If you mainly browse the web from your home network, use HTTPS-enabled websites (which is almost all of them now), and aren’t doing anything that requires strong privacy guarantees, you’ll be fine without one.

If you travel frequently, use public WiFi regularly, or want to access geo-restricted content, a paid VPN from a reputable provider is a reasonable investment. Mullvad, ProtonVPN, and IVPN are solid choices that prioritise privacy over flashy marketing.

Just don’t believe the YouTube ads telling you that you’re one coffee shop visit away from having your identity stolen. The reality is a lot less dramatic than the marketing budget suggests.